Eight Central and Eastern European countries have joined forces to launch the 2005-2015 Decade of Roma Inclusion, a concerted programme aimed at tackling the so-called 'Roma problem'. In a joint declaration signed and issued in Sofia, the representatives of Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia and Serbia and Montenegro pledged public funds to promote the integration of the region's estimated ten million Roma minority.
"Our governments will work to lift discrimination and overcome unacceptable differences between the Roma and the remaining members of society", read the declaration. The initiative is the first major co-ordinated effort to address the plight of the Roma.
The project is also sponsored by the EU, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and George Soros's Open Society Institute. The Decade's objective is to speed up social inclusion of Roma by identifying priority areas for national improvements; establishing and implementing the required national action plans; and regularly monitoring progress.
According to fresh research by the UNDP, in some of the ten countries surveyed almost six times as many Roma people live below the poverty line as other citizens. The average lifespan of the Roma is 10-15 years shorter than that of other Europeans.
